Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to power control circuits for appliances, and in particular to circuits for controlling the power to heating elements in appliances.
Description of Related Art
It is known to control the power to heating elements in appliances for the purpose of controlling and/or adjusting the temperature of the heating elements, and thus the temperature of a cooking vessel or oven cavity. This can be done using a so-called “infinite switch”. The infinite switch intermittently opens and closes a power supply circuit for a heating element in accordance with a temperature setting of the infinite switch, and typically employs a bi-metallic strip and heater combination for this purpose. In a typical heating element power circuit employing an infinite switch, two separate power conductors extend from a source of electrical power to the infinite switch, and two additional power conductors extend from the infinite switch to the heating element. Due to the distances between the source of electrical power, the infinite switch, and the heating element, and due to the number of infinite switches used in the appliance, the aggregate length of the power conductors that supply power to the heating elements can be quite high. It would be desirable to reduce the number and/or length of the power conductors used to power the heating elements in the appliance.